Abstract: A 1:2 demultiplexer (DEMUX) has been designed and fabricated in SMIC's standard 0.18-μm CMOS technology, based on standard CML logic and current-density-centric design philosophy. For the integrity of the DEMUX and the reliability of the internal operations, a data input buffer and a static latch were adopted. At the same time, the static latch enables the IC to work in a broader data rate range than the dynamic latch. Measurement results show that under a 1.8-V supply voltage, the DEMUX can operate reliably at any data rate in the range of 5–20 Gb/s. The chip size is 875×640 m2 and the power consumption is 144 mW, in which the core circuit has a share of less than 28%.

Key words: demultiplexer,  latch,  CML,  design philosophy